Journalists aren’t allowed inside the meetings of the Parliamentary Labour Party. But this evening they got a glimpse of just how high tensions had been running when Jeremy Corbyn faced his MPs when the press briefing from the Labour leader’s spokespeople descended into a loud stand-off in the corridor between them and one of his most vocal opponents, John Woodcock, who took issue with the official account of the meeting that was being offered, accusing the aides of a ‘highly distorted account’.
Other MPs leaving the meeting said it was ‘heartbreaking’, and ‘awful, just awful’. They could be heard applauding criticisms of the Labour leader during the meeting. Senior figures such as Harriet Harman and Alan Johnson were looking ‘distraught’ and on the verge of tears, according to this leaving the meeting.
The Labour leader told MPs that they needed to unite and Labour must be an anti-austerity party.
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